


60 Seconds with Steve Monroe: Brookdale Senior Living and SWAT
Brookdale Senior Living announced it had recently formed SWAT teams to deal with its lowest-occupancy buildings to try to get them over the 80% hump, and there are a lot of them. Since then, the term SWAT team has been appearing more and more with other providers. SWAT is a scary term, and stands for Special Weapons and Tactics, and in law enforcement is used to deal with barricaded persons, active shooting scenes and high-risk search warrants. Not exactly something we want to be associated with trying to get customers into senior living. But I understand the intent. The other frequently used term is the “silver tsunami” about to hit us. Again, a tsunami is extremely destructive,... Read More »
60 Seconds with Swett: The Republican Budget and Medicaid Cuts
There will be significant political interest in what happens to Medicaid funding as Republicans work to pass a budget and tax bill with their very slim majority. Touching entitlements remains politically risky, and the party is divided on whether any Medicaid cuts would be acceptable heading into an election cycle. At this stage, per-capita caps on federal Medicaid payments to states do not appear to be under serious consideration. However, even without direct federal cuts, rulemaking changes could materially affect Medicaid-dependent providers. CMS has issued a proposed rule that aims to close what it describes as a Medicaid “tax loophole” that some states have used to inflate federal... Read More »
Sonida Senior Living Continues Upward Trend
We are at the end of the first quarter 2025 earning roll call, and Sonida Senior Living posted another solid quarter. Weighted average occupancy for its same-community portfolio (56 communities) increased by 100 basis points year over year to 86.8%, which is at the top end of many of its competitors. In addition, same-community RevPOR increased by 5.5% to $4,274 year over year, same-community net operating income increased by 19.3% to $16.1 million, and the same-community operating margin jumped by 280 basis points to 27.6%. On a sequential basis, RevPOR increased by 1.8%, same-community net operating income increased by 4.5%, and same-community net operating margin jumped by 80... Read More »
Brookdale Occupancy Hits 81%
Brookdale Senior Living reported its first quarter earnings results, and it appears to be building on the momentum started at the end of 2024. In addition, month-end occupancy in April topped 81.0%, marking the ninth straight month with ending occupancy above 80.0%. While it is great the company is making progress, there is still a lot more work to do. After declining in the second half of 2024, the seniors housing operating margin increased to 28.4% in the first quarter. This represents a 130-basis point increase from the year-ago quarter, but a whopping 290-basis point increase sequentially. Meanwhile, RevPOR increased by 3.0% year over year and 4.6% sequentially, contributing to... Read More »